Catherine Mendez v. County of Riverside

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: August 16, 2023
• Docket: 5:22-cv-00452
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10

11 CATHERINE MENDEZ, et al. Case No. 5:22-cv-00452 AB (RAO) Plaintiff, 12 v. PROPOSED PROTECTIVE 13 ORDER1

14 COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE, et al.

Defendant. 15 16

17 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 18 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, or 19 private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use 20 for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 21 Accordingly, Defendants petition the Court to enter the following Proposed 22 Protective Order. Defendants acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 23 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it 24 affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or 25 items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 26 // 27 1 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 2 This action is likely to involve confidential personnel records of California 3 peace officers for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for 4 any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential 5 materials and information consist of, among other things, confidential personnel 6 information, information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which 7 may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal 8 statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the 9 flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over 10 confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties 11 are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable 12 necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to 13 address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a 14 protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the 15 parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons 16 and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been 17 maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it 18 should not be part of the public record of this case. 19 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 20 Defendants further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 21 Proposed Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 22 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed 23 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 24 to file material under seal. 25 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 26 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, 27 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 1 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002); Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, 2 Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders 3 require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling 4 reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with 5 respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere 6 designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— 7 without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the 8 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or 9 otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 10 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 11 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the 12 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. 13 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For 14 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced 15 under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking 16 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal 17 justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting 18 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 19 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 20 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. 21 If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting 22 only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document 23 shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their 24 entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 25 2. DEFINITIONS 26 2.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit. 27 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 1 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 2 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 3 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 4 the Good Cause Statement. 5 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 6 their support staff). 7 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 8 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 9 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 10 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 11 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 12 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things) that are produced or 13 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 14 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 15 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 16 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 17 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 18 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 19 counsel. 20 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 21 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 22 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 23 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 24 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 25 that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 26 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 27 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 1 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 2 Discovery Material in this Action. 3 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 4 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 5 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 6 and their employees and subcontractors. 7 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 8 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 9 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 10 Material from a Producing Party. 11 3. SCOPE 12 The protections conferred by this Proposed Order cover not only Protected 13 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 14 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 15 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 16 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 17 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 18 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 19 4. DURATION 20 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 21 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced 22 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 23 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by 24 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance 25 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” 26 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 27 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 1 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 3 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 4 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 5 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 6 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written 7 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items 8 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably 9 within the ambit of this Order. 10 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 11 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 12 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 13 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 14 Party to sanctions. 15 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 16 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 17 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 18 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 19 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 20 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 21 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 22 produced. 23 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 24 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 25 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 26 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 27 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 1 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 2 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 3 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 4 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 5 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 6 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 7 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 8 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 9 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, 10 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 11 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 12 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 13 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 14 in the margins). 15 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies 16 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 17 deposition all protected testimony. 18 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 19 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 20 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 21 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 22 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 23 protected portion(s). 24 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 25 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 26 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 27 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 1 Order. 2 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 3 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 4 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 5 Scheduling Order. 6 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 7 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 8 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 9 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 10 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 11 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 12 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 13 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 14 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 15 challenge. 16 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 17 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 18 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 19 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 20 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 21 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 22 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 23 DISPOSITION). 24 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 25 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 26 authorized under this Order. 27 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 1 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 2 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 3 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 4 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 5 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 6 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 7 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 8 (c) the court and its personnel; 9 (d) court reporters and their staff; 10 (e) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 11 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 12 (f) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 13 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 14 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 15 IN OTHER LITIGATION 16 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 17 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 18 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 19 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 20 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 21 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 22 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 23 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 24 a copy of this Protective Order; and 25 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 26 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 27 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 1 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 2 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 3 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 4 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 5 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 6 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 7 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 8 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 9 (a) The terms of this Proposed Order are applicable to information 10 produced by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 11 Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is 12 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these 13 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional 14 protections. 15 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 16 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 17 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 18 confidential information, then the Party shall: 19 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 20 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 21 agreement with a Non-Party; 22 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Protective 23 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific 24 description of the information requested; and 25 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 26 Non-Party, if requested. 27 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 1 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 2 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall 3 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 4 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 5 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and 6 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 7 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 8 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 9 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 10 Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the 11 Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 12 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 13 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) 14 request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to 15 Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 16 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 17 PROTECTED MATERIAL 18 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 19 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 20 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 21 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever 22 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 23 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and 24 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 25 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 26 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the protective 27 order submitted to the court. 1 12. MISCELLANEOUS 2 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 3 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 4 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 5 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 6 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 7 Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to 8 use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 9 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 10 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material 11 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 12 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 13 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 14 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 15 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 16 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 17 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 18 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 19 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 20 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 21 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 22 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 23 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 24 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 25 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 26 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 27 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 1 || transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 2 || reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 3 || materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 4 || constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 5 || Section 4 (DURATION). 6 || 14. VIOLATION 7 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 8 || including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 9 10 || DATED: _7-26-23 11 || /s/ Bruce E. Disenhouse 12 || BRUCEE, DISENHOUSE. SOS 3 Attorney for Defendants 14 15. || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 16 DATED: August 16, 2023 18 . || Reyeeen @. CCN 20 || United States Magisirate Judge 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 5 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury 6 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Protective Order that was issued 7 by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in 8 the case of ___________ [insert formal name of the case and the number and 9 initials assigned to it by the court]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all 10 the terms of this Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to 11 so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. 12 I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item 13 that is subject to this Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 14 compliance with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 16 Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Protective Order, even if 17 such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby 18 appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 19 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and 20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Protective Order. 22 Date: ______________________________________ 23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 24 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26 27 Signature: __________________________________